charlatans

spirituality is very personal.
religion, however, is not.
Lao Tzu said that the Tao (Way)
that is spoken is not the true Tao.
the same goes for spirituality.
not many people can put their idea
of spirit, of god into words,
and that's for a good reason.
once we label and categorize
a particular form of understanding
on a level of spiritual principles,
it becomes corruptible.
we have a tendency to label every
single precept into a nice little
box and adorn it with bows and ribbon
to make others find merit in our
own version of the same old question:
who are we, and where do we come from?
having spent years meditating,
i always take the transcendental approach
for fear of conforming
to a set of made up rules
and judgmental ideals
that always tend to lead to ego.
a fraud can usually be singled out by their
need for wealth and general acceptance.
they will put everything you want to hear into their teachings,
but rarely what you need to hear.
they are looking to reach the highest level of
membership into their way of thinking
so they can make the most money from it.
show me a guru who has thrown money out of the equation.
show me a mystic that gives freely of their 'gifts'.
show me an icon who doesn't use their money and power
as a weapon.
frauds are easy to spot, just look up their address
to see how 'holy' they are living.